Leadership Theory: The Basics
Get introduced to the theory behind leadership and leadership styles and find out the difference between managers and leaders.
Duration
2 weeksWeekly study
3 hours
Leadership Theory: The Basics
Learn the basics of leadership theory
On this leadership course, you will be introduced to the theoretical underpinnings of leadership, different styles of leadership and their respective strengths and weaknesses.
You will have the opportunity to learn the differences between management and leadership and will investigate in detail the ethical issues that surround the issue of leadership.
What topics will you cover?
- The fundamentals of leadership: what is the evolutionary process of leadership theories?
- What are the major conclusions of the trait theories?
- The skills approach to leadership
- What are the major conclusions of the behavioural theories?
- Identifying the major components of the contingency theories
- Transactional and transformational leadership
Learning on this course
You can take this self-guided course and learn at your own pace. On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...
- Differentiate between leadership and management
- Critically analyse the trait, skills, style and contingency theories of leadership
- Appraise the strengths and weaknesses of the different theories of leadership
- Investigate the different types of leadership and their implications for organisations
Who is the course for?
This course is for experienced professionals looking to understand how a modern business succeeds through leadership, culture, decision-making and change management.
Who will you learn with?
Dr Kasim Randeree is Curriculum Lead and Associate Professor in Leadership and was formerly Director of MBA Programmes and Principal Lecturer in Business Management at Coventry University.
Who developed the course?
Coventry University
Coventry secured 5 QS Stars for Teaching and Online Learning in the QS World University Ranking 2020 and has received No. 1 in the world for Massive Open Online Courses in MoocLab’s World University Ranking 2021.
Established
1992Location
Coventry
Learning on FutureLearn
Your learning, your rules
- Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps, but you can complete them as quickly or slowly as you like
- Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
- Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores
Join a global classroom
- Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
- Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
- Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others
Map your progress
- As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
- Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
- Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate
Want to know more about learning on FutureLearn? Using FutureLearn
Learner reviews
Learner reviews cannot be loaded due to your cookie settings. Please and refresh the page to view this content.
Advance your career with a degree
Since 2017 you have been able to take a degree on FutureLearn. This free course is a bit like a starter course for a degree — it should give you a flavour of the degree subject but can also be your first step towards a degree qualification.
If you enjoy this course you can apply to join the program it’s part of to start working towards a degree on FutureLearn.
Don’t worry, you can still take the course without doing a full degree!
Do you know someone who'd love this course? Tell them about it...
You can use the hashtag #leadershiptheory to talk about this course on social media.